A series of new works created at Memorial University by multimedia artist Peter Wilkins is now available for viewing online.
Wilkins was artist in residence at Memorial from January 2009 to the start of this month. During that period, Wilkins visited classes, advised students and developed multiple new works inspired by his time at the university.
"My time as artist in residence has been a fantastic experience," Wilkins stated in an announcement of his departure.
"I've certainly benefited enormously from my time as artist in residence. I have now tested, created and found new avenues of work, the group portraits and portraits of place, both of which I am particularly excited to continue pursuing."
At the artist's university web page (www.mun.ca/humanities-/home/Artist-In-Residence.php), some of Wilkins group portraits, such as "Department of Philosophy Faculty and Staff" and "Large Group Portrait" (requiring more than 100 participants) can be viewed. The portraits use highdefinition video and come across more like a snap from Harry Potter's fictional paper the Daily Prophet than a group shot you might find on an office wall.
As well, in the eight video pieces available, there are samples of Wilkins' portraits of place, such as "Student Centre" and "Circular Garden." This work is along the lines of what one might expect to see if a pack of ants were let loose inside a drawing of M.C. Escher.
"These works study how individuals interact within a public and physical space over a period of time using repetition and iteration," Wilkins said in the release.
In addition to the multimedia effors, the university site also has four stills from Wilkins available for download.
The images, scaled down from the originals to make them easier to open, have been inspired by the bookstacks at the QE II library.
"I wanted to try and capture the slightly hypnotic effect I feel when I'm immersed in the book stacks," Wilkins stated, "searching for one book, finding another - the idea of endless reading and no matter how much we read, there's always more!"
According to his university profile, Wilkins is based in Clarke's Beach and has work in private collections in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Greece. A collection of his work, "Kinetic Portraits of 12 Canadian Writers" was exhibited at The Rooms in 2007 and purchased by the Portrait Gallery of Canada in 2008.
The artist in residence is a position offered by the university's Faculty of Arts.
afitzpatrick@thetelegram.com
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